Einstein contra Babinský
Country
CzechoslovakiaCopyright
1963Production year
1963Premiere
5 June 1964Runtime
85 minDirector
Zdeněk PodskalskýCategory
filmGenre
comedy, satireTypology
featuretheatrical distributionlongOriginal title
Einstein kontra BabinskýCzech title
Einstein kontra BabinskýEnglish title
Einstein contra BabinskýSummary
Starting in 1957, screenwriter Jaroslav Dietl began to gain considerable experience in television – and this medium remained his chief domain. But Dietl’s ambitions to make a silver screen breakthrough surfaced in his collectivisation-themed drama Cesta hlubokým lesem (Passing Through a Thick Forest, 1963), followed one year later by Einstein kontra Babinský (Einstein contra Babinský), another Dietl opus ill-suited to a small screen adaptation. In this satirical comedy, director Zdeněk Podskalský accommodated Dietl’s emphatic wish to pursue a more experimental form of storytelling. A group of friends from varying backgrounds are joined together through common experiences; the film playfully combines elements of silent film slapstick, civilism, and a piece of political agitprop. Josef Bek and Lubomír Lipský – actors with highly contrasting backgrounds – star as an honest inventor and a cunning crook.
Synopsis
Josef Košťál tells his fellow prisoners about the events that led to his sentence. He has been a friend with František Koloušek since their early childhood. Despite growing up in identical circumstances, one is fated to become a talented inventor and other a villain. When they were young, they were punished many times for František's inventions, which they together were making "alive", was only considered as a wrongdoing. As young men, they found themselves positions at an office where they spent several idle years thanks to an invention able to imitate work. After they were exposed, František left to study and Josef became the head of a department and later on director of a small factory. Fifteen years later, they met again. František took up work in the development unit of Josef's factory. He immediately discovered that Josef and the entire factory management claimed to have developed an automatic machine for which they intended to take financial reward and honours. In reality, there were people hidden in the machine. He was shocked but nonetheless constructed a genuine, operational machine to help his friend. At the ceremonial launch, the machine, never tested, failed and began to burn. The management accused Koloušek, but Košťál also went to prison because of broken fire safety equipment. After they are released from prison, the two friends meet again and together head towards a new beginning in life.
Photos
Cast
Josef Bek
vězeň Josef Košťál/Josefův otec
Lubomír Lipský
Ing. František Koloušek/Františkův otec
Rudolf Deyl ml.
hlavní inženýr Sojka
Čestmír Řanda
ekonomický náměstek Hais
Jiřina Jirásková
písařka Dáša, později Josefova žena
Karel Máj
vězeň Cmíral
Jaroslav Heyduk
Voice by Vlastimil Brodský
vězeň Dáreček
Karel Tomášek
Voice by Josef Hlinomaz
vězeň Karlík
Václav Trégl
vedoucí úřadu Eichler
Josef Beyvl
náměstek z kraje
Mirko Musil
úředník z kraje
Hanuš Bor
vězeň Josef Košťál jako dítě
František Burda
Ing. František Koloušek jako dítě
Květa Fialová
sekretářka Zdenička
Josef Hlinomaz
řídící
Ilona Kubásková
svačinářka
Dagmar Dvořáčková
dívka u stroje
Bohuš Hradil
prokurátor
Zdeněk Jelínek
velitel věznice
Jaroslav Mareš
reportér rozhlasu
Antonín Novotný
mikrofonista
Jaroslav Marvan
ředitel Vorlíček
Milan Neděla
mistr v továrně
Stanislav Neumann
starý dělník
Jiřina Steimarová
Josefova matka
Dagmar Zikánová
Františkova matka
Světla Svozilová
Houšková, předsedkyně svazu žen
Stella Zázvorková
ministerská úřednice
Jaroslav Štercl
ministerský úředník
Rudolf Princ
ministerský úředník
Jiří Štuchal
ministerský úředník
Václav Štekl
ministerský úředník
Antonín Šůra
předseda dílenského výboru
Miloš Vavruška
učitel
Josef Vošalík
dědeček
Gabriela Kaulfusová
babička s kozou
František Suk
vrátný
Václav Wasserman
dědeček v okně
Jiřina Kottová
uklízečka
Míla Myslíková
panička, Josefova milenka
Otto Tutter
vedoucí oddělení
Václav Švec
dozorce
Ladislav Zápotocký
dělník
Karel Hovorka
úředník
Vladimír Navrátil
úředník
Josef Steigl
úředník
Marian Cingroš
úředník
Heda Škrdlantová
tančící dívka
Crew and creators
Director
Assistant Director
Petr Ruttner, Jindřich Mastik
Continuity
Screenstory
Screenplay
Shooting Script
Director of Photography
Camera Operator
Production Designer
Assistent Production Designer
Set Designer
Jiří Čermák, Bedřich Čermák, František Straka
Costume Designer
Costumes
Make-Up Artist
Film Editor
Assistant Film Editor
Sound Designer
František Černý, Bohumír Brunclík (zvukové efekty)
Special Effects
Production Manager
Unit Production Manager
Jiří Zika, Jaromír Lukáš, Jan Šubrt
Unit Production Manager
Ctibor Jeřábek
Cooperation
Emanuela Peterová (klapka), Karel Šebík (fotograf)
Music
Music Composed by
Music Performed by
Orchestr Karla Vlacha (Music Conducted by Karel Vlach), FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček)
Songs
V Hodoníně za vojáčka mňa vzali
Song Composer lidová píseň
Writer of Lyrics lidová píseň
Singer Josef BekLubomír Lipský
Na kopečku v Africe
Singer sbor
Před vejtoňskou hospodou
Song Composer Karel Hašler
Writer of Lyrics Karel Hašler
Singer mužský hlas
První měsíc, první tři závady
Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer Josef BekLubomír Lipský
Závada, závada
Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer sbor
Riviéra, Riviéra
Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Zdeněk PodskalskýJaroslav Dietl
Singer Jiřina JiráskováLubomír Lipský
Slunko jasné za černými lesy
Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer Lubomír Lipský
My stále radostněji budujeme
Song Composer Evžen Illín
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav DietlZdeněk Podskalský
Singer dětský sborJosef Bek
Production info
Original Title
Einstein kontra Babinský
Czech Title
Einstein kontra Babinský
English Title
Einstein contra Babinský
Category
film
Typology
featuretheatrical distribution
Genre
comedy, satire
Origin country
Czechoslovakia
Copyright
1963
Production Year
1963
Production specifications
literary Screenplay approved 14 January 1963
technical Screenplay approved 12 April 1963
start of filming 9 July 1963
end of filming 11 November 1963
projection approval 12/1963
withdrawal from distribution 1 September 1974
Premiere
preview 22 May 1964 (kino Sevastopol /½ týdne/, Praha)
premiere 25 May 1964 /inaccessible for youths/ (kina Lucerna /5½ týdne/, Mír /1 týden od 5. 6./, Flora /1 týden od 12. 6./, Oko /1 týden od 19. 6./ a Arbes /1 týden od 26. 6./, Praha)
premiere 5 June 1964 /inaccessible for youths/ (celostátní)
Production
Copyright Holders
Distribution
Creative Group
Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Procházka, Jan Procházka (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
Technical info
Duration typology
feature film
Duration in minutes
85 min
Original length in metres
2 434 meters
Distribution carrier
16mm, 35mm
Aspect ratio
1:1,37
Colour
black & white
Sound
sound
Sound system/format
mono
Versions
Czech
Dialogue languages
Czech
Subtitles languages
without subtitles
Opening/End credits languages
Czech
